Genes
A gene is a hereditary trait that is passed from parent to child. In Niche, there are 18 different types of genes, each of which affects a different part or ability of the animal. They are: ear, eye, horn, head, body, paw, fur color, mane color, eye color, horn color, blood clotting, immunity, pattern, tail, hind leg, fertility, Albinism and Melanism. However, Males have no gene in the blood clotting gene. This is to represent how, in reality, males have smaller Y and X genes than Females. Each animal has two copies of every gene. They inherit one copy from their mother and one from their father. When they breed, each parent will randomly pass on one copy of each gene. If a gene is dominant, then only one copy is needed for it to be expressed. If it is recessive, then two copies are needed. In the case of co-dominance '''and incomplete dominance', both genes are expressed. Please note that if there are multiple variations of the same gene, some genes can be more dominant than others. For example, brown eyes are ''dominant to green eyes, but recessive to black eyes. Therefore, a creature with genes for brown and green eyes will have brown eyes, but a creature with genes for brown and black eyes will have black eyes. Ancient Genes There are 6 Ancient genes (Armored Body, Digging Trunk, Hammer Tail, Mammoth Feet, Megalocerous Horns and Sabre-tooth Fangs). To unlock these genes, you must find an ice rock which is located in the mountain biome. Once the rock is broken, a creature will appear and join your pack. This creature will have 1 of the ancient genes, and the rest are randomized. Albinism and Melanism Albino creatures have white fur and red eyes, while melanistic creatures have black fur and black eyes. Both albinism and melanism will mask pattern, fur color, mane color, horn color, and eye color genes. The dominance orders are: no melanism > melanism & no albinism > albinism Blood Clotting Blood clotting affects how long the creatures bleed after being injured. It is a sex linked gene; females have two copies and males only have one. The dominance order is: Normal Blood Clotting > Hemophilia Body Body genes affect Strength, Speed, Heat Resistance, Cold Resistance, Spikiness, Swimming, Underwater Breathing, Poisonous, Stealth, Appearance to other entities, and Smell. The dominance order is unavailable for now, as it seems to be glitched. Lean Body > Normal Body = Spiky Body > Water Body > Big Body > Toxic Body Toxic Body Colors Ears Ear genes affect Hearing, Heat Resistance and Cold Resistance. The dominance order is: Medium Ears > Big Ears. Eyes Eye genes affect Eyesight, Smelling and Hearing. The dominance order is: Normal Eyes > Short-sighted Eyes > Blind Eyes. Eye Color Eye Color changes the color of a creature's eyes. It is a cosmetic gene and has no other effects. The dominance order is: Black > Brown > Yellow > Green > Blue > Violet > Orange. Fertility Each creature has 2 copies of the fertility gene. A creatures fertility will be the sum of both copies of the gene; e.g. an animal with a high fertility gene (+3) and a medium fertility gene (+2) will have 5 fertility. Breeding success depends on the fertility of both partners; infertile animals (0 fertility) are unable to breed whatsoever. Fertility also affects the likelihood of twin births, with higher fertility meaning higher chance of twins. The highest amount of fertility is 6 (per creature) and 12 in a pair. Fur Color Fur color genes affect the overall color of a creature. Due to incomplete dominance, the creature's fur color will be a mix of the two genes. For example, two grey genes will produce a grey animal and two black genes will produce a black animal, but a black gene and a grey gene will produce a dark grey animal. Head Head genes affect Strength, Smelling, Cracking, Underwater Breathing, Feeding from the Bottom, and Venomous. The dominance order is: Spit Snout > Normal Snout > Big Nose > Cracker Jaw > Poison Fang > Beak > Gills. Poison fang > digging trunk & poison fang > sabertooth fangs; more testing required to determine exact order Hind Leg Hind Leg genes affect Speed and Swimming. The dominance order is Hind Leg > Webbed Hind Leg Horn Horn Genes affect strength. The dominance order is: No Horns > Ram > Antlers Horn Color Horn Color genes affect the color of the horns on creatures. Due to incomplete dominance, the Horn Color is a mix of the creature's two genes. The colors are White, Black, Brown, and Red. Immunity Each creature has two genes for immunity, which they inherit from their parents. Creatures with two identical immunity genes are more susceptible to illness than creatures with two different copies. The immunity genes are A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, and K. Mane Color Mane Color genes affect the color of the mane on male creatures. Due to incomplete dominance, the mane color is a mix of the creature's two genes. The colors are beige, black, brown, and red. Patterns Patterns affect camouflage. The dominance order is: No Pattern > Dots > Warning Dots > Stripes > Panda. Paw Paw genes affect Speed, Strength, Collecting, Cracking, Swimming, and Digging. The genes are co-dominant. Tail Tail genes affect Swimming and Fishing. The dominance order is: Fluffy Tail > Swimming Tail > Fishing Tail > Stinky Tail Category:Creature